Literature Review

Ribbon cutting for Tapestry Hospice & Palliative Care FetchYourNews.com; by Ellie Trammell; 9/12/24 Happy ribbon cutting day to Tapestry Hospice & Palliative Care at their new office in Blue Ridge, Georgia, serving patients in Fannin, Union, Gilmer and Pickens counties. 

Hospice of the Foothills announces umbrella name, Foothills Compassionate Care YubaNet.com; by Hospice of the Foothills; 9/10/24 As we celebrate 45 years as this community’s only nonprofit hospice, Hospice of the Foothills is excited to announce that we are formalizing our structure a bit to fit all of our programs under one all-encompassing organizational name. Going forward, Hospice of the Foothills, Sierra Community Palliative Care, Foothills Gift & Thrift Stores, and our Bereavement Programs will operate under the unified umbrella of Foothills Compassionate Care. Each program/service will maintain its name and identity but will be united under one umbrella.  We feel his strategic alignment will highlight all that we do more clearly and reinforce our commitment to providing compassionate, community-centered care without changing the ownership, staff, or core mission that our community has trusted for years. ... This is not about changing what works; it’s about creating a formal structure that reflects the comprehensive care we’ve always provided.

Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation announces $500,000 in funding for nine projects to improve serious illness and end of life care Globe Newswire; by Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation; 9/10/24 The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation ... announced nine grants to support innovative, early-stage interventions that address the serious illness and end of life needs of marginalized populations. The $500,000 in funding, part of a collaborative effort with The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, will advance nursing-driven initiatives that improve care for diverse populations and expand access to high-quality end of life services. ... This year’s grants demonstrate a commitment to the design, development, and delivery of better and more equitable care. The 2024 HSEI grant recipients are:

2024 NHPCO Facts and Figures Report now available National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/10/242022 Data Show First Increase in Hospice Utilization Rates Since COVID The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) published the 2024 edition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Facts and Figures, an annual report on key data points related to the delivery of hospice care, including information on patient characteristics, location and level of care, Medicare hospice spending, and hospice providers. Facts and Figures – the leading resource for hospice providers and others interested in understanding the work of the community – has been published annually for over two decades by NHPCO. ... The findings in this report reflect patients who received care in Calendar Year (CY) 2022, or Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, provided by hospices certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and reimbursed under the Medicare Hospice Benefit. This year COVID-19 continued to impact patient care as COVID-19 waivers were still in place through May 2023. These waivers included increased telehealth services. With 49.1% of all Medicare decedents in 2022 choosing hospice care, utilization of hospice increased in 2022 for the first time since 2019. The increase hints at a normalization of the utilization rates back to pre-COVID data. Hospice utilization rates increased across all race and ethnicity groups, with the largest increase among Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries seeing. The total number of beneficiaries enrolled in hospice care in 2022 was 1.72 million. Due to the unique impact of COVID-19 on 2020 data, those data are not included in many of the charts this year.

Nursing students learning to respect culture, tradition at the end of life St. Cloud Live, St. Joseph, MN; by Stephanie Dickrell; 9/6/24  It is called the golden hour — the hour before someone’s death. It’s a time of grief, but it’s also a sacred space. Two nursing instructors at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University are trying to make that time better for patients and their loved ones by better preparing their students who will be with them in their final moments. While the rituals surrounding death may vary by time, geography and culture, the program wants to make sure all cultures are respected. ... Julie Keller Dornbusch and Mary Pesch, both trained as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses ... received a prestigious grant from the Morgan Family Foundation of nearly $100,000 to create and test nursing simulations using culturally specific care for the Catholic community, Somali Muslims and Ojibwe people.Editor's note: This article indicates that "training material on culturally specific end-of-life care" is non-existent. This statement is misleading. Examine:

Norfolk woman celebrates 106th birthday after hospice discharge for being too healthy CBS WTKR 3, Norfolk, VA; by Vashti Moore; 9/6/24 A local woman not only celebrated good health on Thursday, but she also celebrated 106 years of life. Dorothy Southall was born in Whaleyville — a small neighborhood in Suffolk on Sept. 5, 1918. That’s two years before women received the right to vote and two months before the end of World War I. ... During the Civil Rights Movement, Dorothy worked as a licensed practical nurse at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York. She served her community as a healthcare worker for 20 years before moving back to Virginia in the late 1980s where she would live on her own and manage her own finances until she was 103. ... In August 2023, while living with her family, Dorothy was discharged from hospice because she deemed too healthy and no longer met the requirements. When admitted into residential care this summer in Norfolk, Dorothy said she “felt like she was home” when she arrived.

Flourishing at the end of life Public Discourse - The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute; by Xavier Symons, John Rhee and Tyler VanderWeele; 9/5/24 Dying is part of life, but most people dread their final days. The end of life, which often takes the form of protracted terminal illness, can involve significant pain and suffering as well as functional limits in day-to-day living. Is it still possible for human beings to flourish at the end of life? ... While dying may be a time when agency and quality of life are limited, the end of life also presents unique possibilities for the realization of human goods. Some dying patients discover meaning by reflecting on the events of their lives and come to a deeper appreciation of their own life legacy. Terminal illness also presents opportunities for a deepening of close social relationships and the fulfillment of relationship commitments. Paradoxically, the end of life can be a catalyst for gratitude and self-transcendence. It is worth asking, then: can we flourish even as we approach death? And how can we help our loved ones flourish in their final days? Editor's note: Take your time with this excellent essay, as it gets to our collective, core hospice mission, as described by Dame Cicely Saunders: "You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all we can not only to help you die peacefully but also to live until you die." 

Bay Bluffs opens hospice wing as end-of-life care models change Interlochen Public Radio; by Michael Livingston; 9/4/24 Three new beds for hospice care opened in Harbor Springs today marking the end of a year-long pivot for an end-of-life care organization in the region. Last year, McLaren Health System closed hospice facilities in Petoskey and Cheboygan. Combined, the facilities provided more than a dozen beds for hospice in the region. At the time, McLaren called the decision to close "difficult" but necessary due to staffing constraints and said it would move to prioritizing outpatient hospice care - when a nurse visits patients in the home rather than a facility. But a group of advocates in Petoskey said residential hospice is needed in the region - especially for people with serious terminal illnesses. David McBride leads the newly renamed group, Friends of Hospice of Little Traverse Bay. It used to be called the Friends of Hiland Cottage for the facility in Petoskey. ... That’s what led to a partnership with skilled nursing facility Bay Bluffs in Harbor Springs. It’s the Emmet County Medical Care Facility and owned by the county health department. Bay Bluffs is not a licensed hospice provider but it is able to outsource hospice from other companies while providing rooms for families to gather with their loved ones and trained nursing. This newer model of end-of-life care is a growing trend and has been tried in other places such as Arbor Hospice in Ann Arbor which closed its residential facility in 2022.

Hospice ‘pausing’ Martin-Linsin Residence while expanding home-care model OrleansHub.com, Orleans County, NY; by Tom Rivers; 9/3/24 The Martin-Linsin Residence has temporarily closed or is on “pause” following a thorough analysis that showed “significant financial losses due to the increasing operational costs” at the residence, according to a statement this evening from Niagara Hospice, which is running Hospice of Orleans. The eight-unit residence opened in 2012 following a $2.3 million capital campaign. Martin-Linsin used to have a waiting list, but was down to one resident last week. No new residents had been admitted for about three weeks. The clinical staff also was laid off last week after the death of the remaining resident at Martin-Linsin, a Hospice employee said. Niagara Hospice, in its statement, said it is dedicated to caring for the local community, and hospice care “continues to be delivered throughout Orleans County without interruption.”

Hoffmann Hospice to host Grief Support Camp for Children of first responders KGET Bakersfield, California; by Jaspreet Multani; 8/29/24 Hoffmann Hospice will host its second annual free grief support camp for children and teens of first responders on Saturday, Sept 14, 2024. The event called “A Heart for Hero’s Art Camp,” provides a safe space for young people grieving the loss of a loved one such as a parent, sibling, or grandparent. ...  Led by experienced grief counselors, the camp offers therapeutic activities and support to help children express their grief in a nurturing environment. ... “We have a huge heart for kids, especially those who put themselves on the line for us every day,” said Ryan D’ Amato of Hoffmann Hospice.Editor's Note: While many hospices provide excellent grief camps for children and teens, this one stands out for tending the unique experiences for families of first responders. Many of these deaths will have been sudden and tragic--without hospice care--and often more complex to grasp and grieve. Hoffman Hospice's website indicates support for other non-hospice deaths: Miscarriage, Still Birth or Sudden Loss; Suicide. Bravo and thank you to Hoffman Hospice and other hospices who utilize your grief services to support your larger communities through often-disenfranchised deaths and grief.

The DEI Dilemma: Separate teams or embedded methods? Clinical Leader; by Denise N. Bronner, PhD; 8/28/24 In recent years, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become a focal point in many industries, with the pharma sector being no exception. As political forces shift the societal climate to be increasingly DEI-averse, pharma sponsors face critical decisions regarding the implementation of DEI initiatives: Should DEI efforts be managed by a separate, dedicated DEI team or woven into the fabric of existing processes and departments? To answer that question, we must examine the advantages and drawbacks of both strategies, focusing on key factors like resource allocation, implementation efficiency, cultural integration, and the long-term impact on trial inclusivity. ... Integrating DEI into all aspects of a business is a complex task that requires careful planning and coordination. Without a clear strategy, efforts can become fragmented and ineffective.Editor's Note: While this DEI discussion is written to the pharma industry, its DEI structures, strategies and outcomes apply to hospice and palliative care services. 

Granite VNA launches virtual nurse program Eagle Times, Concord, NH; by Eagle Times Staff; 8/22/24 Granite VNA recently introduced a virtual nurse program, connecting patients with skilled home and hospice care nurses through telephone and video calls. The virtual nurses complement the agency’s field nursing team by conducting regular check-ins with their patients, reinforcing education, addressing patients’ physical and mental health needs, supporting case management and more. Granite VNA currently has three virtual visiting nurses, two who specialize in home care and one who specializes in hospice care. Similar to the agency’s field nurses, the virtual visiting nurses see multiple patients each day. “Virtual visiting nurses play a crucial role in enhancing community health and providing support to Granite VNA’s home and hospice care field nurses,” said Granite VNA Vice President of Education and Quality Tammi Mozier, MBA, PT, ATC, COS-C. 

5 DEI expectations organizations should have of all leaders Forbes; by Julie Kratz; 8/18/24 Without leadership support, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts do not work. ... For organizations wrestling with holding leaders accountable for DEI, consider these questions: